Ruin a career by choosing the Madden NFL 11 cover athlete

Last year saw a first for the Madden NFL franchise: two cover athletes sharing the spotlight (Madden NFL 10 featured Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu). This year, EA is breaking the mold again -- they’re letting you choose between three choices for the Madden NFL 11 cover: New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne, and Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen. This is the first time in Madden NFL history that the cover decision has been left to the public.

As discovered by sports gaming blog Pastapadre, EA has partnered with Doritos (which is an official sponsor of the NFL) for the voting: head to doritoschangethegame.com to pick your favorite player. Gamers were likely expecting the Indianapolis Colts’ Peyton Manning to be the obvious front-runner, but that’s not how EA does things. As Chris Erb, senior director of marketing for EA Sports, told ESPN, “For us, it’s about who is hot and relevant, number one, and then we’re also looking for guys who are passionate, who are video game fans and guys who have a great story.” Erb also explained that these three athletes were the first players that the publisher approached for cover candidacy, and all of them were happy to do it.

Once you register on the voting Web site, you can submit a vote every day from now through March 15th; EA Sports will probably announce the cover athlete near the NFL Draft in late April, as they usually do. I’m expecting Brees to win in a landslide, but you never know. The power is yours!